LETTUCE AS A WINTER GREEN
By Julianne Melchor
UCCE /
One of the great benefits for
gardeners living in
I plant many cool season annual flowers – lots of pansies, primrose and cyclamen – as well as several varieties of lettuce and other cool season greens – spinach, chard and mustard. I revel in watching them grow slowly but surely through the cool months and then burst into rapid growth in spring. I haven't lived in Northern California long enough to be cavalier about tearing out my summer annuals in time to plant my winter annuals, so I usually don't plant any winter annuals until air and soil temperatures are too cool to allow much fall or winter growth. Even so, my winter lettuce is superb as a decorative plant and who knows, maybe I'll develop that cavalier attitude with a little more practice. In the meantime, let me share some tips on growing lettuce at this time of year.
Lettuce, impossible to start in hot
summer temperatures, is the perfect plant for our mild winters here in
Lettuce is divided into two types, head
and leaf. Heading types form loose or
compact bunches of leaves while leaf lettuces are more open. Head lettuce varieties include Iceberg (which
forms a tightly compacted head), as well as loose head varieties such as Bibb, Buttercrunch and Romaine. Leaf lettuces include Argula,
black-seeded Simpson, Endive,
On the Western slope of
Lettuce seeds are tiny and easier to plant if mixed with a small amount of fine sand or soil, then scattered thinly in single or wide rows. Barely cover the seeds with more fine soil – lettuce needs exposure to light to germinate – and thin by harvesting seedlings for a fall salad. If saving garden space is a goal, mix lettuce seeds with radish, carrot and onion seeds, and plant by scattering seeds in a one-square-foot plot. It's amazing how many salads may be harvested from such a tiny space!
Head lettuce should be harvested by cutting the entire plant just above soil level, and may be done at any size. An entire head of baby lettuce makes a great individual salad, and full-grown heads will supply enough lettuce for several people. Leaf lettuce can be harvested by picking individual leaves from plants or by using the "cut and come again" method. Use scissors or a long knife to sever leaves about one inch above soil level. The lettuce will continue to grow new leaves, usually within a couple weeks in warmer temperatures. The "cut and come again" method makes quick work of harvesting a large amount of lettuce if it has been planted in a wide row, especially if using a long knife in a sweeping motion.
Lettuce as a winter green is easy and fun to grow. I hope I have inspired you to try it, whether as a decorative or productive plant. Having completed this article, I'm itching to get into my garden to replace the my dwindling marigolds with a swath of light and dark green lettuces and purple pansies – what a glorious combination! I can already feel my attitude changing!
For more information on growing or harvesting lettuce or other vegetables,
contact the UCCE Master Gardener office at 530-621-5512 Monday through Friday,
9 a.m. to noon. Or, you can come by our
office during the same hours at